MellisCEVCPSchool Policy for Gifted and Talented children

Revised September 2015

Introduction

The Education Act of 1993 states that all schools must provide an ‘appropriate education for all pupils’. This is something we believe strongly in at Mellis school. We recognise the needs of the less able pupils and do all that we can do to ensure all children progress in their learning and development and reach their full potential. We also recognise that we need to identify and support those children whose needs are at the other end of the educational spectrum. The gifted and talented children in our school still need appropriate help and guidance, encouragement and support to also maximise their full potential.

Aims

We aim to identify and provide provision for all gifted and talented children. These children will be entitled to an appropriately differentiated curriculum and the opportunity to work at a higher cognitive level. We will aim to identify and develop specific skills and talents. A recognition of the emotional and social development of these specific children will also be taken into consideration.

Definitions and identification

A child’s specific talents may lie in many areas and this must be re cognised by the school and catered for accordingly. These talents may well be musical, artistic or physical (sports and dance etc).

Identification of the gifted and talented pupil will usually be by the class teacher or subject leader. They could be identified by

  • the pace at which they learn
  • their depth of understanding
  • the interests they hold
  • Children must fit into all three of the concentric circles on the Venn Diagram provided. Children must display raw talent, commitment to their ability/ talent outside of school and display creativity within such area. Those children fitting into only one or two of these categories will be monitored by not classed as G&T
  • It is the responsibility of the class teacher to also ensure talents perused and displayed outside school are also recognised
  • They may also be identified by parental observations, peer-group nominations or particularly high test scores.

Meeting the needs of a gifted and talented pupil

The needs of these specific children will be met through teachers planning and lesson preparation. The planning will adhere to the needs of these specific children and work will be provided in order to extend and meet the needs of these children. This could take the form of;

  • a faster pace of work
  • special projects which will allow for independent research
  • extended problem solving activities
  • open ended tasks and puzzles
  • a cross-curricular link to another curriculum area
  • higher order questioning, questions with no clear cut answers
  • opportunities for x1 weekly small group work sessions on a termly basis

Each child with special talents is unique, therefore different approaches will be appropriate for them all. With the support of parents the school will endeavour to seek further guidance from outside organisations and the LEA in order to support those with talents in music sport or the creative arts in order to ensure extended provision out of school hours.

Emotional and social development

It is easy to assume that the gifted and talented are socially adept and confident. They are however often frustrated and consider themselves to be different from other children. They can be vulnerable to;

  • low self-esteem
  • poor study skills
  • social isolation
  • problems with concentration
  • developing and dwelling within a ‘private world’

As a school we must be aware of these possible problems and do all we can as teachers to help support these children to thrive.

N. Kaufman (September 2015)